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Where the Rivers  Merge
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Author Event with Mary Alice Monroe/Where the Rivers Merge (Paperback)

Past event

Featured Book

Book cover: Where the Rivers Merge by Mary Alice Monroe

Where the Rivers Merge

SA TODAY BESTSELLER

“Wade into the Lowcountry of South Carolina with Mary Alice Monroe's sweeping Southern epic."—People

"This is book club fiction at its finest!" —Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author

From the New York Times bestselling author, the first of two epic and triumphant novels celebrating one intrepid woman's life across multiple generations in the American South.

1908: The Lowcountry of South Carolina is at the cusp of change. Mayfield, the grand estate held for generations by the Rivers family, is the treasured home of young Eliza. A free spirit, she refuses to be confined by societal norms and spends her days exploring the vast property, observing wildlife, and riding horses. But the Great War, coastal storms, and family turmoil bring unexpected challenges to Eliza, putting her on a collision course with the patriarchal traditions of a bygone era.

1988: At 88, Eliza is the scion of the Rivers/DeLancey family. She’s fought a lifetime to save her beloved Mayfield and is too independent and committed to quietly retire and leave the fate of the estate to her greedy son. She must make decisions that will assure the future of the land and her family—or watch them both be split apart.

Set against the evocative landscape of the twentieth-century Lowcountry, Where the Rivers Merge is a dramatic and sweeping multigenerational family story of unyielding love, lessons learned, profound sacrifices, and the indomitable spirit of a woman determined to persevere in the face of change in order to protect her family legacy and the land she loves.

This book will be available for purchase at the event.

About This Event

Join Anderson’s Bookshop for an author event with Mary Alice Monroe, to celebrate the paperback release of Where the Rivers Merge, on Thursday, May 28th at 7:00 pm in our Naperville store.

Event Format

We will begin checking you in approximately 30 minutes before the start time. After a presentation and Q&A with the author, the line will form in numbered order with the following guidelines:

Posed photo with your camera taken by our staff
There is a limit of 2 books from home to be signed (unless otherwise stated)
There is a limit of 1 personalization (unless otherwise stated)


All events have open seating. The “Order Line Number” on your pdf ticket is your reserved place in the signing line. You will line up to meet the author based on that number.

If you cannot attend, you must pick up your book (if included with ticket) at the hosting store within 30 days of the event. We can ship that book to you for an additional charge of $9.99; please call the store to arrange that.

Pre-registration is required for this event because space is limited.

Featured Author

mary alice monroe

Mary Alice Monroe

Mary Alice Monroe is the New York Times bestselling author of 30 books for adults and children. Her newest title, Where the Rivers Merge, is a USA Today bestseller and a top selection among book clubs. It’s her first historical novel, and it’s a duology. The release date for part two, titled The Rivers End, is coming soon. Mary Alice has earned numerous accolades and awards including induction into the South Carolina Academy of Authors’ Hall of Fame; South Carolina Center for the Book Award for Writing; the South Carolina Award for Literary Excellence; the SW Florida Author of Distinction Award; the RT Lifetime Achievement Award; the International Book Award for Green Fiction; the Henry Bergh Award for Children’s Fiction; and her novel A Lowcountry Christmas won the prestigious Southern Prize for Fiction. Mary Alice is also the co-founder of the popular weekly web show and podcast Friends & Fiction. The Beach House is a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, starring Andie McDowell. Several of her novels are optioned for film. Mary Alice has championed the fragility of the earth’s wild habitat. The coastal southern landscape in particular is a strong and important focus of many of her novels. For her writing, Monroe immerses herself in academic research, works with wildlife experts, and does hands-on volunteering with animals, then crafts captivating stories that identify important parallels between nature and human nature. Sea turtles, bottlenose dolphins, monarch butterflies, raptors, and shorebirds are among the species she has worked with and woven into her novels. Mary Alice is also an active conservationist and serves on several boards including the South Carolina Aquarium board emeritus, the Pat Conroy Literary Center Honorary Board, and the Leatherback Trust, for which she received the Leatherback Trust Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022. Mary Alice was born and raised in Evanston, Illinois. She lives along the South Carolina coast just outside of Charleston and considers the Lowcountry home. When she’s not writing a novel, she’s with her family or busy working with wildlife somewhere in the world.

About the Venue

Anderson's Bookshop logo

Anderson's Bookshop - Naperville

Anderson’s Bookshops are located just outside Chicago, IL in Naperville and Downers Grove. As independent booksellers since 1875, we pride ourselves on our expertise for every customer and our relationships within our communities. We are the oldest single-family-run bookstore in the country and hope to share our passion and knowledge of books and build community through great reads, good company, and engaging conversations for all ages.

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